THE TOP 5 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERONE OF BARACK OBAMAS BEST BOOKS OF 2019THE TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEARFINALIST FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2020LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NONFICTION 2019A FINANCIAL TIMES OBSERVER DAILY TELEGRAPH WALL STREET JOURNAL AND TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARDalrymple is a superb historian with a visceral understanding of India . A book of beauty Gerard DeGroot The TimesIn August 1765 the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and forced him to establish a new administration in his richest provinces. Run by English merchants who collected taxes using a ruthless private army this new regime saw the East India Company transform itself from an international trading corporation into something much more unusual an aggressive colonial power in the guise of a multinational business.